Drop door of cast metal



0 O O O 2 Sheets-Shae! 1 G. s. IGILPIN DROP noon or cur METAL .Filed Jan. 27, 1928 HI HHI I LP I IF May 19, 1931.

eniof (I llal'n/ May 19, 1931. G. G. GILPIN 1,805,563"

DROP DOOR 0F CAST IETAL Filed Jan. 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fiarik 6: G17 irl Patented May 19, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAB-TH G. GIIILPIN,OI RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO UNION METAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 01 DELAWARE DROP DOOR OF CAST METAL Application filed January 27, 1928. Serial No. 250,002.

My invention relates to the construction of railway cars having drop doors, such as hopper cars, hopper gondola cars, drop bottom or general service gondola cars, mill type gondolas having drop end doors, or the like, having a door forming a part of the car for retaining the load therein, which door is provided with hinges adjacent one of its edges and is capable of being dropped or swung '10 open. Any means of raising the door to the closed position and any means for locking and releasing the door may be employed with my device.

A door for this purpose must be very strong and durable because:

First, it is a part of the floor of the car and as such must sustain the load as well as the impact blow of the load when the car is in motion. Second, the car is frequently load- 2o ed from chutes or tipples from a height of of course follows the door. Fifth, as the load is theoretically equally distributed, the door must be strong over its entire area and must be capable of transmitting the resulting stresses to the car body without much deflection and no substantial distortion. Any bending of the door or drooping of the corners would cause a leak of the lading, especially of such fine material as sand, chats, etc: Any bending or warping might interfere I with the complete closing and locking of the door. An object of the invention is to provide a 'door of cast metal, preferably malleable iron or cast steel, having a panel portion forming a floor or ,wall of a car andto reinforce such panel with cast integral members and to form through a plurality of gates into t and shape the entire door so that it will not i be deformed by warping when cooling, and furthermore, will eliminate shrinkage cracks and internal stresses.

Both cast metal and annealed cast metal offer greater resistance to corrosion (and similar chemical actions) than rolled steel owing to the texture of the metal. When rolled steel is deformed between dies (whether'heated or not) the fibres on the tension side of the metal are opened up or separated by stretching, while the fibres on the compression side of the metal are forced together and upset. Both such opening up and upsetting actions disrupt the homogeneity of the fibres, thus permitting the entrance of moisture therebetween and augmenting corrosion, therefore, another object is to provide a door more capable to resist corrosion- Railway cars are not only subject to the usual atmospheric conditions but are subject to chemical actions of certain loads, such as, for instance, wet coal which forms sulphuric acid.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a portion of a railway car with my device applied thereon.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3'is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1.

c Fig. 4 is a detail of the door from the unv .derside.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a section on line 6--6 of Fig. .4. Fig; 7 is a modified form of the invention. In casting a door having an integral depending flange extending around all'four of its sides, the liquid metal is preferably poured e panel portion of the door from whence it flows into the integral flan e. The lower portion of the flange, therefore, cools first and offers resistance; to the contraction exerted by the coolin panel portion. If a transverse integral r1 is provided which merges into opposite portions of the integral flange, the cooling of the panel portion would break one end the first mentioned reinforcing ribs 7 with,

"- the depen when increased by a loadimposed upon the door become suflicient to (anddo) break the door.

Tov illustrate one adaptation of my device, I have shown a so-called generalservice drop bottom gondola car wherein the major portion of the floor consists of drop-doors. The door openings are surrounded by the center construction 1, side wall 2 and cross dia-y phragms v3. In normal or closed position the door completely closes this opening and in fact is a trifle larger on all sides than the opening so as to provide a lap joint between the doorand the car frame member. The doors are hinged to the center construction and are supported adjacent the side wall by the raising-or locking mechanism. Any convenient stop may be used to limit the downward movement of the door.

The cast metal door comprises a panel 5 preferably with a continuous depending integral flange 6 extending around all four sides of the panel. The door is provided With one or more reinforcing primary ribs 7 with their opposite ends 8 terminating within the paneladjacent opposite portions of the depending flange so that any load imposed thereon is carried to points near the depending flange. These reinforcing ribs preferably increase in depth toward their middle portions. I also provide secondary reinforcing ribs 9 extending substantially normal to their opposite ends merging into the panel adj acent'the first mentioned reinforcing ribs or primary ribs 7 so that any load imposed upon these secondary reinforcing ribs 9 is transmitted to the primary ribs. Ialso provide webs l0 10 which are preferably aligned with the secondary ribs 9 and which merge from the panel and extend toward and merge into the depending flange 6.-

" As the panel portion of the door cools there is'a tendency to elongate the ribs causing a stretching of the tension side of the rib, therefore,I prefer to; form them on the arcs of a circle orto wave them, or broadly speaking, to form them in some other than a straight line, as shown as 11-,'12 in Fig. 7.

When the reinforcing ribs are curved certain of them 'preferablyjterminate into the panel adjacent the corners .of the door, as showninFig/Ty f j V The hinige lu s 15 are cast integral with ing flange 6 andsome of the reinforcing ribs preferably terminate into the limited to the exact details of construction j shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereofwithin the scope 'of the claims will occur to persons skilled in the art; v V

In applications Serial No. 249,999; No. 250,000; N0.'250,O01 and No. 250,003, all filed January 27, 1928 I have disclosed and claimed 7 certain features disclosed but not claimed herein. a

.I l im r 1. A hinged door for a railway car consisting of an integral casting comprising a panel having a smooth surface on one side with a continuous flange adjacent its perimeter, reinforcing ribs terminating withinthe panel adjacent the opposite portions of the flange, and other reinforcing ribshaving their opposite ends terminating into said paneladj acent 90 the first mentioned ribs and positioned normal thereto. 7 j

2. A hinged door for a railway car consisting of an integral casting comprising a panel with a continuous flange adjacent its perimeter, curved reinforcing ribs terminating within theipanel adjacent the opposite portions of the flange, and other reinforcing ribs 'havingtheir opposite ends terminating into said panel adjacent the first mentioned ribs and'positioned normal thereto.

; 3. A hinged door for a railway car'consisting of an integral casting comprising a panel with a continuous flange adjacent i'ts perimeter, curved reinforcing ribs terminating within the panel adjacent the opposite portions of the flange near the corners of the door, and other curved reinforcing ribs having their opposite ends terminating into said panel adjacentthe first mentioned ribs and positioned normal thereto. a

f f. A hinged door for a railway car consisting of an integral casting comprisinga panel havin a smooth surface on one side, reinforcing ribs terminating. adjacent the opposite margins of the panel, and other reinforcing.

ribs positioned between and angularly dis- I posed to the first mentionedrib's, the last mentioned ribshavingtheir opposite ends.

mentioned ribs., v 5. A. hinged door for a railwayjcarconsist merging into'the panel adjacent the first 3 ing of an integral casting comprising a panel izo having a smooth surface on one side, reinforcing ribs terminating adjacent the opposite margins of the panel, other reinforcing ribs the panel adjacent the first mentione 'ribs,

positioned between and angularly disposed to the first mentioned ribs,3the last'm'entioned ribs having their opposite ends mergin" into and Webs positioned between the first mentioned ribs and the margins of the door and angularly disposed to said first mentioned ribs.

6. A hinged door for a railway car consisting of an integral casting comprising a panel having a smooth surface on one side, reinforcing ribs terminating adjacent the opposite margins of the anel, and other reinforcin ribs positioned hetween the first mentione ribs and positioned normal thereto.

GARTH G. GILPIN. 

